Don Martin repeats floor crossing rumours

While the PMO has denied that there are any offical talks going on about the supposed three Liberal MP's who are planning to cross the floor (supposedly the musings of an uninformed staffer), the National Post's Don Martin has repeated his assertion that there are at least two Liberal MP's that he's spoken to personally who are thinking about crossing the floor.

From today's Calgary Herald:

The Liberals were preparing to fight an election under the belief that, all policies being roughly equal, their guy would win the popularity contest as a healing unifying force over a polarizing Harper.

Not any more.

A Liberal leader who can't even keep his own party together, whose advisers are internally derided as more incompetent than even former leader Stephane Dion's sorry entourage, can no longer sell himself as a credible alternative to this government.

Delusion, deception or both, the public doesn't care that Harper is cheerleading everything he opposed in earlier political incarnations. They have bought into the new Harper as the real deal.

That leaves Ignatieff shadowboxing against a more formidable opponent who is promoting policies his Liberals endorse, leaving only fine print to distinguish himself during any campaign showdown.

No wonder the two MPs I wrote about last week are musing about crossing the floor to sit as Conservatives. Political survival is the strongest instinct for any MP -- and as Liberals they're heading for the endangered species list.

dmartin@canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

So while the Star and the PMO are now seeking to downplay the rumours, they're still floating out there... perhaps it's a case of splitting hairs? Sure, there may be no "official" talks underway... but I'd say time's running out for these MP's. They need to make a clean break now, or in typical Liberal fashion, they'll eventually be smoked out and punished for having talked to Don Martin. Warren's propably sniffing things out as we speak.

Red Rover, Red Rover, we call the Member from ...... over!